Drawing: Women's Face in Profile - Pastel Chalk on Treated Paper

in #drawing8 years ago (edited)

Update: Check out Part 2 here, different technique using the same paper treatment!

In this drawing i was trying something different.
Usually i like to make a mess and extract forms out of shadows and mass but i thought i'd try to control my lines and only draw what was necessary.

face_detail_groundcontrol.jpg

I used 3 colour General's pastel chalk - Black, White & Red.
I started with Daler Canford Paper - Dreadnought Grey which is a nice paper for pencil but it's not very forgiving.
If you make a mistake it can be difficult to erase without leaving a mark.

To over come this, i painted the paper first with a mixture of Shellac flakes thinned out with mineral spirits.
This changes the papers 'sizing' which means it creates a barrier between the paper and the medium - in this case the pastel chalk. It also changes the colour from the mid-tone grey to a nice olive tone.

The chalk then behaves a lot more like charcoal, very easy to lift and remove, very easy to make light strokes and build up into dark tones.

I'm still experimenting with changing a papers sizing, sometimes i've used too much shellac and it's like trying to draw on glass - impossible to leave a mark but it has been a good discovery and can turn OK paper into some quality surface for drawing on.

face_groundcontrol.jpg


CONTINUE: Check out Part 2 here, different technique using the same paper treatment!

thankyou.jpg

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Wow! That's beautiful!

@groundcontrol , i just love the earthy colors!!
This is no spam, but please check my latest drawing in charcoal of a steemian i follow :) cheers! https://steemit.com/drawing/@makisantypas/portrait-drawing-of-heiditravels

Beautiful. Love the subtleties of the colours. Nice use of the background colour.

Wow, absolutely stunning! I've never played with sizing at all, but it sounds like a pretty fun experiment.

Thank You. Yeah it's been a great discovery. I started learning about Rabbit Skin glue - the traditional sizing but didn't want to deal with that. Shellac works in a similar way and a lot easier to deal with.
Just remember to wash your brush INSTANTLY - it dries super quick as the mineral spirits evaporate - buy cheap house brushes rather than using art brushes!

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amazing work

So lifelike ... just from your head or you had a subject?

I had a subject, it was drawn about a year ago when i was trying to study the face to learn the dimensions and ratios.

Good question...what do you think.for me lolooks from a photo...

This post has received a 0.44 % upvote from @booster thanks to: @groundcontrol.

wow, you re talented.

Thanks for checking it out.

Wow ! rly nice drawing keep posting man !

Thanks, i will!

Very nice, thanks for sharing. Folowing you now! ;)

@Ozz

That seems pretty realistic I like the details and the shades are amazing thanks a lot for sharing this art and keep on posting ;)

That's amazing! I'm following you. Thanks for the shellac tip. I wonder if it works well for drawing with markers. I'll have to test. (I think I have a can of shellac sitting somewhere...)

Never tried it with markers but you never know! Just water it down a lot with mineral spirits. You don't need much. It turns to glass other wise (thou maybe that would work better with markers?)

OH yes, man! Killing it!!! :) Excellent drawing...

🤜⚡️🤛

Wow! great job! I admire!

Thank you @daio for checking it out and following!

Stunning work. Thankyou for sharing your technique :)

No worries, I think it's important to share these things.

So subtle, I love it!

god, that ear is perfect. great job!

Ears & Knees are my favourite parts to draw. There's a satisfaction when i get them right, not sure why thou!

amazing work...!!
very well done..!

Love it!!! Dope !! I thought it was Airbrushed!!

Thanks, check out fellow Aussie @jwmackay - he's doing some great airbrush work - i'm a potato when it comes to airbrush! #teamaustralia

Once more...I admire this work and can admire many times more...you doing great

It's perfect.

Awesome work, i like!!

Hermoso ,muy realista @groundcontrol .

This is absolutely incredible. I am going to study this when I draw! Thank you for posting.

Nice! Will be looking forward to your posts :-)

up voted

RightWithin

Wow, you have fantastic talent @groundcontrol!

Thanks for sharing it with us around here :-)

Good going! Keep up the good work :)

This post received a 3.7% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @groundcontrol! For more information, click here!